8 Moments From THE AFFAIR That Prove It's One Of TV's Biggest Emotional Rollercoasters

Rollercoasters are a funny thing. There are some that you avoid at all costs, and some that you keep getting back in line for, even when you're still dizzy from the last wild ride.

The same goes for thrill rides of the emotional variety, especially when it comes to a TV show that we're thoroughly addicted to. There are certain shows that toggle between countless highs and lows that you keep coming back season after season, even when you're still reeling from what came before.

Exhibit A: THE AFFAIR on SHOWTIME®.

People who watch this show — starring Dominic West (Noah), Ruth Wilson (Alison), Maura Tierney (Helen) and Joshua Jackson (Cole) — will agree: One does not simply *like* THE AFFAIR. This is a matter of being OBSESSED with THE AFFAIR. We're in it for the moments of love, the moments of betrayal, the moments of escapism, and all the emotional drama that has become our lifeblood.

Ever since the show premiered, we've been willingly on board the emotional rollercoaster that is THE AFFAIR, and in honor of the Season 4 premiere on June 17, we're taking a trip down memory lane to revisit the 8 moments that we still can't seem to shake.

1. Alison saves Noah and Helen's daughter from choking

This moment will go down in history as the one upon which the entire storyline is built since it's the first time Alison and Noah meet.

It also introduces the dual perspective style of storytelling, which proves to be a structural hallmark of the show. Alison and Noah remember this pivotal scene quite differently, which is certainly a sign of things to come.

2. Alison and Helen come face to face

In a moment that represents Alison and Helen's first meaningful tête-à-tête, the former shows up at the Solloway's Brooklyn home expecting to find Noah, and is shocked when the door is instead opened by Helen.

The ensuing exchange is mostly domineered by a seething Helen, and only when she's finished denouncing Noah (and by association, Alison as well), is a dazed Alison able to stumble away.

3. The infamous love quadrangle confrontation

When Noah and Helen venture out to Montauk to collect their runaway daughter from the Lockhart ranch, chaos of potentially deadly proportions ensues.

We gasped when Cole pulled the gun out, but we lost our breath completely when he turned it on himself.

Thankfully, everyone made it out alive, but the scene had one last moment of heartbreak (as if we hadn't already suffered enough). Noah stays with a shaken Alison in lieu of going home with his wife and daughter, simultaneously showing where his allegiance lies and destroying any semblance of connection to his old life. Ouch.

4. Helen's arrest

A welcome moment of comic relief for the audience is ripped away when Helen's boozy "self-care" day is cut short by a missed school pick-up, a car crash, and an arrest.

The image of an intoxicated Helen, foils in hair and all, getting in a fender bender with her kids in the backseat and subsequently being arrested is enough to rid us of ALL the good vibes we gleaned from her solo dance party scene earlier in the episode.

5. The Hamptons party from hell

When Noah's book agent Eden brings him to a high-profile party, it goes from everyday revelry to a nightmare of hellish proportions. Alison goes into early labor but can't reach her husband, while a devastating storm descends upon them.

Noah overindulges at the party, gets himself into a compromising situation with Eden, and ends the evening with the horrific realization that the nude party-goer he's been checking out all night is actually his daughter, Whitney.

6. Alison tells Noah that Joanie is not his daughter

Talk about drama... When Alison reveals to Noah that Joanie's true father is not him, everything hits the proverbial fan.

As we all remember, Scotty was holding this information over Alison's head for so many years to maintain control of the Lobster Roll. So when Noah finds out that Joanie is in fact Cole's daughter, and then takes the fall for Alison's involvement in Scotty's murder, the revelation is super hurtful.

7. Noah takes the blame for a murder he didn’t commit

Noah's courtroom confession acts not only as a plot point to set up Season 3, but also as a total and complete departure from everything we thought we knew.

After spending so long suspecting that Noah was the killer, it's revealed that Helen was the one who actually did the deed. But before we could even come to terms with this new, sad reality, our process is interrupted by Noah's jarringly untrue confession.

8. The prison confrontation between Noah and Helen

When Helen visits Noah in prison and gets nostalgic over their marriage, he is NOT having it. Whether or not they once shared a life, a home, and a bed, a piece of him seems to have died when he took the fall for Scotty's murder. So when he shuts her down and tells her to "go away" amidst her sentimentality, it seriously stings.

And once again, we're left to pick up the shattered pieces of our heart after being taken on a ride by the characters and the storyline we just can't seem to quit.

Watch the season premiere of THE AFFAIR Sunday, June 17 at 9PM, only on SHOWTIME®.

This post is sponsored by SHOWTIME®.